


So Klingt Liebe: A Forward

by NotTilItsFinished (Pyrate0804)



Series: So Klingt Liebe [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 23:53:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17672465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyrate0804/pseuds/NotTilItsFinished
Summary: A brief, general overview of the history and science behind the main work of the series: So Klingt Liebe.





	So Klingt Liebe: A Forward

Section One- A Little History

 

When the world was young, at least to humans anyway, most people lived in hunter/gatherer groups, clans if you will. Generally, these clans were more like extended families, where a dominant alpha/omega pair ruled their own offspring, and often the generation after that. Gender roles were based solely on a person’s physicality, their presentation. Alphas, male and female alike, were naturally stronger and more aggressive, so they were the hunters, the providers, the protectors. Omegas were generally seen as the gatherers, the homemakers, the life-bringers. Those that fell in between were the betas, fulfilling the other roles of society; the laborers, the healers, the mediators. As these clans expanded and grew, they met other clans, some working together to make larger clans, but others only neighboring enough to compete for resources. Omegas, and the breeding stock that they represented, became more like property than people. Wars were waged; over territory, over food and water, but most often over omegas, who had them and who wanted them. Aggressive clans would attack each other for no other reason other than because one clan had an omega that a member of another clan wanted.

Ultimately, it was the betas who saved humanity from descending completely into chaos, developing agricultural farming and animal husbandry. Being able to grow crops and raise domestic animals for food, instead of simply collecting whatever was readily available, changed things. More food to go around meant infant survival rates rose, and life expectancies got longer and longer. Open conflicts over omegas dwindled, but instead of clans killing each other over who had the best omegas, clans traded them as if they were just another resource instead, like a textile or livestock. If one clan had a poor harvest season, they could trade a few of their young, available omegas with a neighboring clan, and the people of the first clan would eat for another winter. With these trades, came the illusion of civilization. Alphas gained more and more power, mostly by mating off their omega offspring to the highest bidder. Betas managed to maintain their laborer status, developing things like roads to promote commerce and luxuries like art and theatre to keep the masses entertained. No one seemed to notice or care when omegas began to be treated worse and worse. Most were mated off for land rights or food stores or to simply settle disputes between families. Others were taken from their families in the night, mated to some strange alpha before the next morning could come. Things went on this way for many, many generations. Not to say that all omegas experienced these things, but many battles, both political and civil, were won on the back of a pretty omega with child bearing hips.

Time moved on. Empires rose and fell. Advances were made in math and science, in philosophy and art, in writing and religion, but the hierarchy that been established remained. Alphas ruled over their little fiefdoms, betas labored away for masters they would probably never meet, and omegas continued to propagate the species. The illusion of civilization expanded, and more advances were made, in industry and engineering, in law and order, in making war and making peace, and in all this progress, the long-established hierarchy subtly began to shift. Alphas still ruled the world, but omegas began pushing back; pushing to own their own property, pushing to have voice in politics and education, pushing to be more than just their omega natures. Some betas and alphas pushed their limits too, and slowly over time, a tentative sort of equality was reached. Omegas took jobs, and owned property and voted in political elections, and most importantly, they had the right to choose who they mated with. First, they moved into jobs that betas had traditionally held, but it wasn’t long before omegas were working in jobs usually reserved for the strongest and most dominant alphas. Not all alphas took this shift in power well, ultimately leading to more wars, but the omegas where there all the same, helping to settle things, both with their bodies and their minds.

As time continued on, and society began to take note of itself, other things changed too. Alphas who were overly aggressive were looked down on, sometimes even being detained for assaulting omegas; a concept that was sorely lacking in the earlier days of history. Betas started running for political offices despite the fact that leaders had traditionally been all alphas. Arguably the most revolutionary developments, at least for omegas, were things like birth-control and heat suppressants. Being able to control if and when they got pregnant transformed omega’s rights into an almost non-issue, especially when most of the world’s major powers made access to those kinds of things a priority for their people. A person’s gender became less and less important as the years passed, at least to society at large. Surely, there were still some hold-outs; big, strong alphas wanting to keep all the world’s money and power for themselves, and betas just wanting to tow the line and not rock the boat. There were even omegas who enjoyed the homemaker life, having baby after baby, and as a group, society didn’t think any less of them either. In short, the development of civilization, of society overall, eventually civilized people, at least for the most part.

 

Section Two- A Little Science

 

Genetically, alphas, betas and omegas are as different as different can be, at least while still being part of the same species. Each individual has 23 sets of regular chromosomes, each one determining a different part of the whole being, from eye and hair color to ear size and finger length. Each individual has three additional sets of chromosomes that determine sexual traits; the first two controlling a person’s sex, and the third dictating how those features manifest. An alpha female typically has XYY chromosomes, while an omega female is likely to have YYX. Additionally, alpha males usually carry XXY pairs, and omega males have YXX. Betas make up those sets in between, meaning female betas and male betas have YXY or XYX, respectively. There are aberrations to the pattern; betas with XXX or YYY, and even some alpha and omega, females and males, with those same patterns. These alphas and omegas often experience late-term presentation, sometimes not actually presenting until well after puberty.

The most obvious physical differences between alphas, betas and omegas all boil down to anatomy, specifically sexual anatomy. Male alphas and male betas have permanent external genitalia, i.e. phalluses with external testicles. Female alphas have large clitoral structures that can adapt to suit both male and female partners depending on their status; meaning an alpha female’s genitalia, in the presence of an omega in heat, becomes so engorged by blood and hormones that they expand, developing a phallus, if only for the duration of their intended omega partner’s heat. Adversely, female alphas who mate with male betas, or male alphas for that matter, do not adapt, allowing them to carry children almost as if they were a beta. These pregnancies are often difficult to bring to term though, as female alpha body chemistry can interfere with the regular growth of a fetus. Male omegas have similar clitoral structures to female alphas, but instead of growing and engorging to accommodate a partner, a male omega’s clit will actually shrink, partially retracting inside their bodies to allow their intended alpha or beta partners easier access to their wombs.

Most scholars agree that these adaptive properties are the result of years and years of evolution, but there is still a fair amount of discussion to be had as to why. Some say that at one time there were only two genders and that the current evolution of mankind was simply a step in the process towards a more balanced civilization. On the other hand, some researchers say that the development of alpha females and omega males was the direct result of early mankind’s hunter/gatherer groups, the thinking being that in groups where omegas outnumbered alphas, or alpha outnumbered omegas, female and male betas adapted into alphas or omegas to maintain stable birthrates. In recent years, there have even been studies that have produced evidence indicating that all six genders stemmed from a race of fluid beings that had no outward sexual presentation. With those studies, there are as many questions as there are answers, but not as many answers as there are questions.

Other physical differences also mark alpha from beta, and alpha from omega, and so on. One of the more important ones is the differences in the olfactory sense. Alphas and omegas have heightened senses of smell, allowing them to use their pheromones and hormones to attract mates. Alternately, a beta’s sense of smell isn’t nearly as developed, and are thus, least affected by the flows and ebbs of the sexual habits of the world around them. Traditional, as in pre-modern era, courtship rituals depended almost solely on this heightened sense of smell, meaning alpha-beta and omega-beta relationships were rare, but as society evolved, and as the propagation of the human race became less of a priority, alpha-beta and omega-beta relationships have become more common. Alpha/alpha and omega/omega relationships have also become somewhat common as well, although in many countries around the world, any relationship other than an alpha/omega or beta/beta pair is still judged quite harshly.

Another concept that is special to alphas and omegas, is phasing. Even the most dedicated, educated medical professionals aren’t sure what causes this phenomenon. Phasing, or phase-sensitive learning, is when an alpha and omega are so drawn to each other’s scents that it sometimes causes physical pain to not be bonded together. These couples usually bond during a first shared heat, instinct making it nearly impossible to resist the urge to bond, but it is not unheard of for couple outside of the reproductive cycle to experience phasing. These cases are extremely rare, but they do exist. The arguments as to what causes phasing are as varied as they come; some thinking that it’s simply a biological, or even chemical, reaction one experiences when faced with their ‘perfect mate,’ while other scholars, those who study the softer sciences, claim that phasing may be attributed to purely psychological, or even metaphysical, reasons. Either way, relationships that involve phasing leave both parties intrinsically attached to each other to the point where emotions travel along their bond, some even at great distances. Regular, non-phased couples experience some of this, alpha’s claiming they can feel it when their omega is in distress, or omegas knowing when their alpha is feeling their most aggressive and possessive, but in phased couples, alphas and omegas alike claim they can feel exact emotions, being able to distinguish between simple sadness and despair, or happiness and absolute joy. Despite all the research and development of modern medicine, phasing is just one of those things that eludes explanation.


End file.
